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Before boarding his flight back to Pakistan on Saturday, deposed prime minister and proclaimed offender Nawaz Sharif said he was \u201chappy to return\u201d after spending four years in self-imposed exile for medical treatment.<\/p>\n
The PML-N supremo who is slated to land<\/a> in Pakistan today is likely to face a host of legal challenges before embarking on his election campaign to rev up his party\u2019s prospects in the lead-up to elections due in Jan next year. The party had indicated that Nawaz would land by 12:30pm but so far his plane has not arrived.<\/p>\n However, party leader Ishaq Dar said that Nawaz would arrive at Minar-i-Pakistan at 5pm today on schedule to address the gathering.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a media channel, there is news that Mian Nawaz Sharif will first go to Jati Umra and will later go to Minar-i-Pakistan at 7pm. This news is not true,\u201d he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n His party is rallying its base, urging supporters to converge on Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore from around the country to greet their leader and showcase the undiminished popularity of the party, which has been declared \u2018irrelevant\u2019 by its rivals.<\/p>\n Former finance minister and PML-N stalwart Ishaq Dar had confirmed<\/a> that the elder Sharif would fly from Dubai to Islamabad via a chartered plane on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Observers say the reason Nawaz is arriving in Islamabad instead of Lahore is that his touchdown in the capital was necessary to make bail, earlier granted<\/a> by the Islamabad High Court on Oct 19.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going back to Pakistan after four years today,\u201d Nawaz said today while speaking to the media at Dubai Airport. \u201cWhen I was leaving Pakistan and going abroad I had no feeling of happiness but today I am happy.\u201d<\/p>\n